A Great Basin Cemetery (#52 Ancestors, #7)

Not all cemeteries are a green oasis.  Nevada, the central state in the Great Basin, is a land of high mountain ranges, wide basins, and scant rainfall -  about 13 inches a year.  Vast fields of alfalfa are irrigated from abundant basin groundwater supplies.  Not the local cemeteries.

Highway 50 passes through Dayton, Stagecoach, and Silver Springs in the western part of the state.  Each town has a small cemetery.  Desert Memorial Gardens is in Silver Springs.

I pass through on my way to my hometown and usually stop to enjoy the wide open spaces and the creativity of the memorials.

Cemetery guidelines call for a certain type of manufactured brick edging. There's little natural resources to work with.  White rocks, brown rocks, and sand are standard decorations.  And unlike many cemeteries, plastic flowers are allowed.  A single spigot is the only water source.  Feel free to take a load off on the wagon-wheel-themed bench.

Here's Roy William Franklin, "Beloved Son, Brother, Father, Uncle & Friend," with plastic daises and gold bowling pins knocked down like his last strike - his favorite sport and his final mark.

Nevadans are known for toting a special rock from a special place to a special grave.

Many Special Rocks!

- Side by Side in the Great Basin -

Desert Memorial Gardens is in the pink square.